Born Of Darkness
by Aphotica
Summary: After Beast Boy leaves the Titans unexpectedly, it's up to the team to find a replacement. Not long after putting ads in the paper and sorting through recommendations, an unnamed, mysterious figure arrives to take the void left by the former titan. Following him, a dark and ruthless force never before seen by anyone on the planet let alone this dimension...
1. New Arrival

**Author's Note:** About 9 or 10 years ago, FFNet had an author named Obsidian Thirteen. Sometime into the beginning of his hobby, he wrote a Teen Titans fan fiction called Born of Darkness. The first version saw modest success and introduced relatively dark concepts to the fledgling TItans fan fics. Less than a year later, he rewrote it to something a bit longer (around 8,000 - 12,000 words longer). The version was more concrete, less spastic and somewhat more mature. It stayed on FFNet for a few more years, finally being taken down in 2008. That was the last time anyone saw Born Of Darkness.

I worked with Obsidian Thirteen a lot during those times. We would bounce fan fictions off of each other and participate in the communities. As we got older, we grew less fascinated with fan fiction. Between constant reboots of profiles, life circumstances eating our time and the whole thing of growing up, we lost our way. We ventured into original fiction and actually getting published, something we're still working hard on continuing. Last night I asked him if it would be possible to recover some of these old stories and update them; perhaps give them a modern edge. Born of Darkness was the first one I wanted to do. The process would be simple: expand, tighten and add scenes here or there. Rewrite large portions but keep the core elements of the story. He happily blessed the project and handed over the 2005 rewrite to me with a big stamp that said "approved". Now, with a bit of Clive Barker under my belt and this whole self-publishing/traditional publishing thing going on, I'm taking my hand at revising his original masterwork. At the dawn of my mid twenties, I feel it necessary to sort of close the gap - bring things full circle. So I give you the revised and extended, modern version of Obsidian Thirteen's fan fiction. Do note that I haven't altered anything of the plot, rather, just given it more room to breathe and develop some relations, characters and places that weren't touched on much before.

Enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter I: New Arrival**

_"So impressed with all you do,_  
_Tried so hard to be like you,_  
_Flew too high and burnt the wing,_  
_Lost my faith in everything,_

_Lick around divine deb__ris,  
__Taste the wealth of hate in me,  
__Shedding skin succumb defeat,  
__This machine is obsolete."_

There's a certain whimsy to the fugue. You're either a clever nomad or the dismal result of failure and disorganization. In a world of broken families, saturated poverty and sadistic crime, the average person cannot afford a single miscalculation. The consequences are severe, more dire than death itself. Yet, people move. Men grab their duffel bags of clothes and a wad of money and head to the nearest city promising new jobs and life. Women sneak away in the tendrils of an inky night and arrive at a new bus station, eyes wide and hopes high. It's the start of a new story; the beginning of a new chapter, even in the inherited risk it carries.

Jump City was a place for people like that to runaway and start over in, no matter the cost. Refugees, fugitives, standard class civilians and lords of the underground would arrive with dreams of conquest and ghosts of worry. Sure, it was bigger than most places. There were more jobs and more places to live, more colleges and more facilities. Amenities came with a price, though. Regardless of how well the city was protected, it was always open to new threats. Neolithic devices ran by newborn horrors brought in the womb of the city's dark underworld. Most of them would be fought off, pushed back to their origins or destroyed. But in the grand course of time, all odds and evens being favorable to chance, the possibility exists that something unprecedented could arrive. Something infinite and ancient. It is only then that the integrity, stability and effectiveness of good can be tested again the forces of true evil.

Not the petty stealing or the ephemeral leftovers of a passionate murder. Not the misgivings of a fraud or the fame of a forgery. Not a drug lord serving his customers, not a whore pleasuring the buyers of the streets. This was small time. A true force of evil has no principle. A drug lord keeps his stock in, exchanges his illegal goods and services for capital or currency but an entity of darkness, something not bound by space and time, will not obey its own principles, even if they're sadistic.

With every moment, something beyond good and evil approached.

* * *

It was pitch black out, the only light provided by the man made, sodium infused fixtures illuminating the streets. Underground, in the subways, all that could be heard were the rumbling of the passing trains and crumpled newspapers rolling around on the frigid concrete. Aboard a car in one of the trains, a single figure sat. He was cast in darkness, sitting in the only obscured corner available. The lone man, probably in his late teens or so, was wrapped in an obsidian black trench coat and a haze of shadows. It was all that could be distinguished about him. The train slowly rumbled to a stop, hydraulics squealing with the eerie sound of metal kissing metal. The figure, silent and calculating, gathered up a single backpack with all of his belongings in it and stood. The door slid wide, welcoming to his new home: Jump City. After a few glances and a rolling cloud of steam and smoke gracing the subway station ahead, he paced out into the open.

The train station was a tomb, the only sound was that of light traffic drifting from up above. It came down in thin blankets, wrapping its hopeless melody around the few homeless people and passersby. The figure slowly began to stalk across the open area of the underground station until he reached the stairs, kicking a few empty cups and bits of broken bottle along the way. Again, slow footfalls could be heard as he walked patiently up the stairs. The night air seeped in and mixed with that of the underground aroma of the city's transportation infrastructure. He stood atop the stairwell and surveyed his surroundings. It was a quiet night, save for a few police sirens in the distance and some cars going by. The figure began walking into the city.

* * *

"So, what are we going to do now?" Robin asked, pacing the kitchen.

"Hell if I know." Cyborg yawned and shrugged his shoulders, scratching somewhere on his cybernetic head.

Robin growled in reply, "I put out an ad in the paper, but I seriously doubt anyone around here is up to the job. I question if we are sometimes." he said.

Cyborg didn't respond. It had been three days, a triplet of perplexed hours, since Beast Boy had left the Teen Titans. He had said it was of personal matters and nothing more. Regardless, everyone had been confused but didn't question him. To the best of the group's knowledge, nothing fantastic had happened. Drama was thin if there at all. For a while, they dug; accusing on or the other of instigating it, perhaps a hidden affair or someone with their hands in the cookie jar. Maybe even Beast Boy's. The arguments eventually faded to quiet murmurs.

Now, they were looking for a replacement, someone to fill Beast Boy's shoes. Expectations were low here to begin with. Morale was low and the promise of a new Titan was met with skepticism. Time passed, seconds turned to minutes and night turned to day and whatever the hell happens in between. Robin had been searching ever since he had left and come up with nothing. It was a vacuum of progress at best.

"Come on! There must be something or someone you can think of?" Robin questioned, stopping and placing his hands on the tabletop. Again, Cyborg shrugged, he was getting kind of pissed that Robin kept badgering him but he was too tired to do anything about it. Robin needed someone to talk to so he hadn't let Cyborg go when the girls had gone to bed.

"Mad you're not getting any tonight?"

Cyborg flipped him off.

"Whatever." Robin sensed someone in the room and spun around, Starfire stood in the doorway, looking very tired.

"Could you be kind enough to keep your voice down? Others are trying to sleep, you know." she said, rubbing her bloodshot eyes, clad in panties and a bra. For a moment, her figure and smooth skin distracted him.

"See something you like?" she asked, placing a hand on her hip.

"Uh, sorry. But with Beast Boy gone, we got a serious problem, one we need to talk about right now." Robin insisted.

Star shook her head and left, catching a glimpse of the boys taking their time watching her leave. She dispersed back into the darkness, the sound of a door closing quickly whispering into silence.

Cyborg hunched forward, sighing. "You know, you could probably get laid by both of them if you quit being like this."

"We have responsibility, Cyborg. Serious responsibility here."

Cyborg groaned inwardly; sleep wasn't coming.

* * *

The figure stopped in front of the massive tower set upon the coast of the ocean. The sheer height was enough to make him question a very deep, long-forgotten fear of heights. Tilting his head, he looked up at it, realizing the thing was shaped like a massive T. This was it – the ad in the paper, demonstrated in physical glory as a checkpoint in an arcade game. The figure began slowly walking up to the tower as he had been for the whole way there, every step calculated, collected and aware. Alert. As he approached the main entrance, he depressed a button that would grab the attention of those occupying the tower.

Maybe they'd scurry or feel indifferent. The figure, wrapped in his heavy duster of a trench coat, could only imagine the reactions. Indifference? Excitement? Repulsion? Waves of scenarios ran through his head. Each left an imprint, a sort of reminder like all things had in his life. Purposes were always nerve wracking – even he expected this. Yet anxiety would still attempt to possess him. Every moment was a moment of battle with his inner self and no matter how exhausting, the young man kept his wits sharp with surgical precision.

The figure stood patiently and waited for a reply.

* * *

Robin was in the middle of a sentence when he heard the intercom buzz. His brows perked and a beat in his heart fluttered; maybe, just maybe, salvation had arrived. Cyborg stood, turning with a glare to the comm unit. "Who in the hell is callin' this late?"

"Maybe it's someone about the job." Robin replied.

"Come on, man."

Robin returned the kind gesture of Cyborg's middle finger presented earlier, hurrying to the intercom. No quicker than a blink of an eye, he pressed for a reply. "Yeah?" he asked. There was a moment of silence that was eventually broken by a stoic voice.

"_I'm here about the job."_ Was the only reply.

"No shit!"

"No shit." It added.

"Um, okay... we'll meet you in a minute." Robin said.

Most of them were awake by now. The calamity of a late night call brought mystery and wonder. In their line of work, you had to keep on edge, ready to leap into the canyon of battle at a moment's notice (even if the notice wasn't there at all). Passing through the metal and concrete tinged glow, the woken titans, Cyborg, Robin and Starfire began heading downstairs.

* * *

The lone figure waited outside the massive tower as rain began to fall, pouring over his stone expression. The small droplets of water ran off of his trench coat, tapping on the steel tipped boots he was sporting. As the night saturated the cool air, the lone figure found himself at home, merely waiting to be invited inside. The doors suddenly opened to reveal three people standing inside. He stood, recognizing each face and body from various sources he'd previously encountered ranging from news articles to fan conventions of local crime fighters.

"Won't you come in?" Robin, the leader, asked. The nameless man didn't make a move for several seconds, only staring and studying the few famed individuals to his fore. Finally, after a moment of scrutiny, the figure paced inside with such calm it rivaled the eye of notorious storms. The doors shut firmly, echoing a sort of matrimony of metal closure. The figure, still drenched from a dreary eve's rainfall, found himself in a long corridor with a single door at the end and two sliding doors on the middle, right section of the hallway that was surely an elevator.

Robin spoke first, "You said you were here about the job, right?" he asked as they began walking down the hall. The figure simply nodded as they reached the doorway, even his body language seemingly devoid of emotion. From there they entered a large rec room with a massive TV, video games, a stereo system and a huge, curving couch. Seems like a nice gig, the nameless man thought, still glancing around with silent precision.

"Won't you have a seat?" Starfire asked.

The nameless individual shook his head and went to stand in the center of the room, as if waiting for something. An uneasy silence filled the room, the three titans sitting on the curved couch, eyes fixated on the dark stranger. In the light he could be seen more clearly now, a rough, worn face, a head of closely cropped black hair and icy, focused blue eyes. He removed his backpack, setting it on a table next to him with a precarious grip. His trench coat followed, revealing a figure that possessed seemingly toned attributes. Underneath, he wore a dark black long sleeve shirt, clinging to his core and shoulders, black baggy jeans complete with tears and nicks and steel tipped combat boots made from leather darker than a stained volcano.

"Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? We're not going to just hand out the job." Robin asked finally, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, he will," Cyborg added.

"Shut up, Cyborg." Robin folded his hands together, removing his scowl from the man and machine hybrid. "So? Abilities?"

"Yes," the young man nodded, "I have enhanced physical abilities and believe that I am capable of fulfilling the duties of a titan."

"What's your name?" Starfire asked.

"Seth Obsidian," Seth replied.

Again, an uneasy silence. Was it his last name? It sounded like something pulled from a cartoon or worse, a serial novel. Unbelievable, sure, but the situation was fantastic enough.

"That's an... interesting name. Now, when you say 'enhanced physical abilities', what do you mean?" Robin asked.

"You'll know, in due time." Seth replied in a level, monotonous voice.

"Alright, Seth, you got the job. But for now, let's get some rest. We'll sort the rest out in the morning." Robin said, he got up and headed back out into the hall, towards the elevator, everyone else followed. As they reached the top of the tower where the dorms were located, everyone piled out of the elevator, somewhat avoiding Seth. "Starfire, will you show him to a room?" Robin asked.

"Alright." Starfire replied, as Robin and Cyborg began heading to their rooms, motioning for Seth to follow her. Invitations were bliss in his eyes, though he never expressed this. Regardless, he did so, holding his trench coat and backpack under one arm.

"So are you new in town, Seth?"

Seth shrugged. "I'm new everywhere I go."

She stopped, collapsing her arms. The door, while large, implied a small room hidden within. Perfect, Seth thought.

"Well, here you go." Starfire said.

Seth shouldered his bag, "Seems good enough. Thanks."

Star only nodded, then turned and began heading towards her room, which was down the hall. Seth watched her go, amused at their uncomfortable nature around him. Granted he would likely be uncomfortable if someone showed up at his house, homeless and claiming such wonders and abilities. Schizophrenia comes to mind. That and a bad habit of running through money (hence homelessness). He pressed a button on the wall, the door sliding open with little resistance. A quick probing of the dark adjacent wall revealed a switch which he promptly flipped. A synthetic, titanium white glow basked the room, each corner and nook exposed in the inanimate nude. _Not to__o__ bad,_ he thought. There was a large bed in one corner accompanied by a night stand with a lamp and clock on it and what appeared to be a boom box, the kind you give your brat of a child to blast rebellious music.

In another corner, tucked away in the aftereffects of light scattering on the solid meeting walls, a desk with paper, pens and a comfortable chair. In a third corner was a great looking dresser and a full length mirror, just what Seth needed to examine himself should the time arise. The final corner, a modest one, contained a small closet and a bathroom with a shower stall, toilet, sink, counter and medicine cabinet. Seth Obsidian tossed his things down onto the ground and strode across the room, the door sliding shut behind him. Automatic doors, he grinned beneath his expressionless face, were to be expected. Removing his shirt and pants was easy enough, followed by socks, leaving only the boxer-briefs and a worn, sculpted body. He crawled under the blankets of the bed and immediately fell into a deep sleep, ready to fend off the nightmares his mind would bring.


	2. Titan Tower

**Author's Note:** This chapter features no new scenes but rather extensions of what already was. I feel it had the elements correctly and only need some space to move and evolve. Some dialogue was added and some of Seth's inner thoughts.

* * *

**Chapter II: Titan Tower**

_"Standing on the edge,  
__Of the underworld,  
__Looking at the abyss,_

_And I'm hoping for some miracle,_  
_To break out, to escape from all of this,_  
_Whispers in the air tell the tales,_  
_Of a life that's gone,_

_Desolation,_  
_Devastation,_  
_What a mess we made,_  
_When it all went wrong."_

Ultraviolet illumination spilled into the room through the overly large windows that Seth had not bothered to cover up the previous night. He could slap himself for forgetting, a deep regret washing over the lethargy that soon followed. Seth had been awake for some time now, giving him ample time to explore his room. For a Titan dorm, it wasn't so bad. That was his assessment last night but with significantly more like a decent amount of sleep compared to the trek there, he felt his understanding of his environment was clearer.

Seth made sure, damn sure, that there were no listening, tracking or spying devices. The world had gone rampant with intrusion though he'd been trained to ward the offenders off. Devices were easily disabled when found or hacked to support his needs. He stretched, clad only his his underwear, glancing around. Yep, a room. Other than the obvious furniture, just a few simple pairs of dark, one size fits all clothing, and office supplies in the desk, Seth didn't see much. He assumed that the recreation room held most of the games and whatnot, though his suspicion was strong that the team had their own playthings. Seth had made good use of the small washer/dryer unit in the closet and now his clothes were mended and clean, especially his trench coat, probably his most important asset.

On a dark, mahogany desk, resided a slew of his possessions. He'd taken upon himself to clear the damn thing off earlier, also part of his training. Organization is tantamount. His eyes followed the display of utilities, starting with the left side. A ten inch, titanium, unbreakable combat knife, sharpened to the point of insanity. Two handguns, cop issue 9mm, modified with a laser scope and a barrel designed for hyper rifling.

Six clips of specialized armor piercing projectiles, the most expensive kind you couldn't get accompanied the pistol. Another pair of the clothes that he wore, sporting relatively good condition. A small journal that he contained everything, every bit of information that was relevant to specific parts to his life that he could think of within finished off the right side of the personal gallery. These were all of his personal belongings. Though modest, they were indispensable.

Seth turned his gaze over at the digital clock on the nightstand, its dull red numbers reading **8:04**. Transfixed on the time, he began to think. The others would surely be getting up soon. He had heard footfalls outside of his room, approaching and then receding, some time ago, around six. Perhaps that had been the other Titan, the other that he had not seen the night before. He hadn't known much about her other than she was a she and probably the most reclusive of the group. He could respect that magnitudes more than other people their age.

She was perhaps the only one worthy of interaction and communication, from what Seth could gather. He suddenly pushed the chair back from the desk and rose to his feet in one lithe movement, starting a path for some food. Seth began walking towards the door and then paused. Trench coat or not trench coat? He decided against it, settling for just his combat knife.

He put it in the sheath and then placed that on a loop in his belt. It had been told to him that he looked intimidating enough without the knife, but he preferred the knife; it had done well for him in times past. With his trusty blade, shiny and sleek, Seth began to head towards the door.

He pressed the activation button and it slid silently open to reveal the corridor beyond, completely devoid of life. "Fantastic," he whispered beneath his breath, slowly moving down towards the elevator. It was only his footfalls now, as lonely as that seemed.

He activated it and then stepped in once the doors slid open, fascinated by the sheer metallic design. Metal tarnished, sure, but a force with such cleaning prowess must have worked its wonders here. There were tales of a janitor, an Italian one, that had adventures beyond reason and sanity. Maybe he had been here or better yet, worked here. On the ride down, Seth pondered what this new life would bring him.

He had managed to wipe out the previous threat in Grant City... well, he hoped he had. The thing from the dark was a difficult foe, probably his greatest and it would only serve as a bad omen for life in general if it remained. As the elevator came to a halt and the doors opened, Seth was drawn out of his pondering. He had arrived at the mess hall, knowing only that by the worn labels above each of the buttons.

After leaving the moving, confined room, Seth strolled down the hall and in through the open doorway that led to the kitchen/dining room, a cafeteria suited for the best of crime fighters. There sat a single figure at the table, wrapped in a dark, purple hooded cloak. Near motionless, Seth realized he was staring at the other Teen Titan. If only he could remember her name. She drank from a mug and had a small plate of eggs and a piece of bacon on it, half eaten. Definitely deep in contemplation or however saturated in thought you could get with a first meal, Seth noted, returning to his comfortable stride.

"Who are you?" the figure asked, looking up from the table. Within the hood, Seth could see a pale face.

"Seth Obsidian." Seth replied, heading over to the kitchen part of the mess hall.

She sipped on her coffee, gently nodding. "Got here late last night?"

He nodded.

"You're quiet."

Seth nodded yet again.

"Well, get something to eat," she lifted her coffee cup in the direction of the refrigerator, tipping him off that yes, he could grab some sort of food from its depths.

He gathered up a few pieces of leftover pizza, cold from the refrigerator, and a mug of steaming hot coffee, then went to sit across the table.

"I know your shapes but not your face or name." Seth sat down, sipping on his coffee.

"Not surprising," she set her cup down, "but it's Raven. Careful with your words, by the way."

Seth's brow raised, the young man stopping in mid drink. "Have I offended you? I've seen you in the media, that's what I meant."

"No. But relax on the knowing people's shapes comments." Raven was good at suggesting things in a non-confrontational way. It seemed very lenient compared to some. "When did you arrive, exactly? I wasn't quite awake; specifics elude me." Raven asked.

"Midnight on the dot." Seth's voice was flat. He went about eating his food and drinking the coffee, their conversation coming to an anti-climatic end. Together, they ate in silence. Sharing solitude was Seth's fancy, so long as it remained true solitude. So far, Raven was reciprocating. Either she was tired or didn't care for him. Her chords had always struck as somewhat antisocial, though Obsidian's had too. They both looked round, voices and footfalls of the others disturbing the peaceful silence that had fallen between them.

Starfire, Robin and Cyborg all entered the mess hall. Cyborg stopped and looked at Seth, then at the pizza, and then back at Seth.

"Hey man, that was mine!" he yelled.

"I'm sorry. I didn't see anything limiting me."

"You can't go around doing that stuff. That was mine. I bought it with money I earned doing repairs for the city's stuff." Cyborg crossed his arms, irate.

"Really, I'm sorry. I can buy you more." Seth was trying to keep a sort of benevolence to him, despite his shadowy appearance.

"Some punk kid comes off the streets and gobbles down my food. You're a real piece of work, man. We have principles around here."

Obsidian became impatient, tired of dealing with Cyborg's inability to accept apology or reimbursement. "Deal with it." Seth replied.

"You can't just go around eating people's food."

"You want to make something of it?" Seth asked, turning to look Cyborg in the eye.

The Titan was about to retort but paused as he saw something in Seth's eye, the look of a dangerous person. "Whatever man. It's cool, just maybe pay for the next pizza."

"Will do." Seth finished the first slice.

Cyborg ended up muttering to himself and going about collecting his own food, in a way secretly grateful the new Titan had forced him to eat something remotely healthy. Yogurt, fruit and oatmeal. He shook his head, finding a spot of his own to sit. The others did the same, getting their breakfast.

"So Seth, you want to tell us a little about yourself?" Starfire asked in a cheery voice.

"I am six foot even, weigh about 175 pounds and am 17 years old. I hail from Grant City, 19 miles northwest of here." Seth replied, downing the rest of his coffee. The Titans found his answers unsettling, well, maybe not the answers themselves, but the way he said them.

"How did you hear about us?" Starfire asked, determined to make the best of a bad situation.

"Channels." Seth replied.

"Of?" Robin asked.

"Propaganda."

"What did you do before you got here?" Starfire now, curious and seemingly infatuated with his history.

"I was used as a one man special assault and investigatory unit." Plain, blunt and simple. Seth had his way with words but most of all, facts.

"Used?" Starfire asked, the others had stopped eating and now were looking at Seth.

It was either out of being perplexed, curiosity or anxiety. "The police force there offered food and water, shelter, clothing, everything essential for survival. In return I was to hunt down various criminals in the city."

"We've never heard of you." Robin wiped away some orange juice from his lips.

"No, you wouldn't have."

"What about your family? What did they have to say about this?" Cyborg leaned forward, fixated on the following answer.

"They had nothing to say because they did not exist." After that, he would reply no further. He simply finished his food, got to his feet and left. The Titans watched him go and after a long moment they finally went about eating their breakfast again.

"Seems like we've got another Raven." Robin finally said.

Unhappy with his remark, Raven gave him a hard look and then departed, leaving the empty coffee cup behind.

"What did I say?" Robin asked.


	3. The City

**Author's Note: **Starting next chapter, I will be implementing a "changelog". Every three chapters, I will go back and adjust things to better suit the overall pace and flow. This will include an editing I may have missed, perhaps some additional dialogue or moment with characters. It will be place in the author's note - I'm adding so that, in case you really, really want to read that once, 500 word chunk I added, you will know where to look. If the changes don't effect how you view the story or are trivial, feel free to ignore them!

* * *

**Chapter III: The City**

_"We think we've come so far,_  
_On all our lies we depend,_  
_We face our consequence,_  
_This is the beginning of the end."_

The day slowly drifted on without meaning or purpose leaving the Titans with little to do. Then again, that's how everything seemed to be transpiring as of late. It seemed things had grown quiet and crime was handled by the local police force, the Titans left to their own devices and thoughts (this was spelling existential crisis so far).

Specifically someone like Raven, who simply wanted to uncover whatever truths life had to offer. She wasn't old yet, but the descriptor of teenager was beginning to lose prominence. Years had gone on and now, every one of them was at least seventeen. Perhaps this was an omen, a sign of ghosts echoing away the future. She crossed her legs, sitting on her bed in nothing more than her undergarments.

Morning had come and with it, doldrums of a pristine, preoccupied city. The darkness in her room was saturated with the dreaded boredom as well, perhaps finally used to the overall aura she emitted. Eyes focused on a single solitary spec of dust, she began her breathing routine. In and out, nose then mouth, slow, persistent and collective.

"Friend Raven," Starfire took it upon herself to burst through her door, excited about something and louder than most hells Raven was aware of.

Raven was not amused. "Yes, oh joyous one?"

She was practically bouncing now, "We're going to show Obsidian the city! I do love taking such new people around and I wanted you to join us. Will you?"

"Damn it," Raven unfolded her legs and slouched forward, rubbing just above her eyes.

"Yay!"

* * *

Seth sat in his room, the shades drawn, the overhead lights off. His thoughts were probably somewhere in the same realm: off. Nothing was coming to him other than insipidly clear blanks. Like bullets in a gun fight, they were useless without a hollow-tipped musing attached to the casing. He sighed deeply, shaking his head. "Fantastic," Seth laid back in his bed, crossing his arms behind his head.

Maybe if he thought about the light filtering through the cracks. Another segment of useless time passed and, no, it didn't help. Then he tried flashes and images of violence, bloodshed and horrible things awful enough to be almost beyond imagination. It burnt his mind's eye, the poor fool remember that chaos seemed to be the only thing he could dredge up. Happy, blissful ideas were fruitless (like always).

They were things that he had seen down the years of his short life, things caused by... Him. The being from beyond. A figure composed of complete darkness – total chaos. This was his ultimate nemesis. As the thing's face began to material in his thoughts, the sound of tapping interrupted him. Seth glanced up, following the sounds of light knocks on his door, somewhat perplexed.

"Enter," he obliged, the door sliding open.

The first rays of light that cast over his pupils conjured intense waves of pain, shortly adjusted to mere annoyance a few seconds later.

Starfire stood within the frame, blocking some of the light but not enough to make him happy. She had a hesitant look on her face, little telltale signs of someone once excited scattered throughout, though continuing to stand firm within the open way of the door.

"Can I help you, Starfire?" Seth rubbed his chin then standing from his bed.

She stammered, then began. "We're all heading out into the city for a little bit of relaxation, and were wondering if you wished to join us." Starfire explained.

"What about your duties to crime stopping?" Seth replied, turning to look at her.

"Well..." she trailed off.

Seth shrugged, "Evil has grown soft, right?"

"...Things seemed to have quieted down, sure. And if anything arises we will be able to deal with it whenever it does so. This is the team and I's hope, at least."

Seth nodded. "So what's the point of going in the city again?"

Starfire shrugged, "I suppose to acquaint you with the city, new friend."

"Or have the city acquainted with me?"

Her face went somewhat blank, followed only by a weak nod. "Sure."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Seth smiled, realizing that he needed to study them, learn their strengths and weaknesses, just in case. He had learned to trust no one, barely even trusting his own actions. Finally, he nodded to Starfire and went about collecting his things.

"One moment, Star." Seth pulled on his trench coat and settled the two 9mms into their respective places within, carefully sliding his absurd knife into its custom sheath. Starfire seemed to watch with wide eyes, like a child finding something new in the world. _Clang. _The knife could practically sing when nestled in its home correctly. Complete in his persona, Seth walked out of his room and into the brightly lit corridor.

As Starfire began to walk down the hallway, he followed her in silence. Seth could feel Starfire's tenseness, her nervousness of being in his presence but an odd excitement at the same time. Perhaps a bit of conversation would help.

"So is Cyborg or Robin your boyfriend?" Seth slid a cigarette in between his head and right ear, shaking off the morning lethargy.

She looked back at him, pace slowing, "What makes you think I like boys, Obsidian?"

Seth let the widest grin pierce his face, a small chuckle escaping him, "fair enough."

She giggled lightly, returning to her original pace, "And no, lady Raven and I aren't an item. Far from it, friend."

It was funny, because from what he had come to learn, Starfire was always bright and cheery, and just a little too trusting. A bad thing to have, trust. It could break you, it could betray you, it could kill you. Seth and Starfire stepped into the elevator.

She noted his Marlboro light, seemingly... something. "You smoke?"

"In this day and age," he plucked it from his ear, perching it in his mouth and kissing it with the flame of a silver Zippo, "I always smoke."

"Lucky for you, this tower is equipped with decent air filtration. Isn't that bad for your exercise, Seth?" She asked, depressing the button.

"Breathing city air gives you cancer, love," he puffed again.

The elevator closed in what presented itself as an eternity. After a long, silent moment it finally arrived. The doors slid open to reveal a short corridor which ended in the main entrance. The others had gathered there, waiting. Sunlight poured in through the windows, giving the hallway a comfortable glow of warmth and natural fluorescence. Seth wished he could appreciate such a sight, but such things were lost to him. Instead, he focused on the looks Cyborg, Robin and Raven were giving him over the cigarette.

"Morning," Seth chimed.

He had seen things that were too terrible, too horrible, and it had stained his soul. Starfire moved forward towards the group as Seth lingered back, hearing Robin and Starfire talking softly. It was uncanny how focused the group was on perpetuating drama.

"Why did you even bother with him?" Robin asked in hushed tones.

"Because, he is a new member of the team and we must learn get along." Starfire replied in a voice just as quiet as Robin.

Seth eyed their movements, his glance moving to Raven and Cyborg. They seemed to be indifferent, except for the gaze the other female Titan was plastering over him. She looked away, resuming the sights to be seen ahead. Strange, he thought, I can't think of what kind of look she was giving me. Robin's words pulled Seth away from his quick foray into subdued flirtation.

"Either he learns how to fit in, or I'll personally kick his ass." Robin sounded like a dog, a really angry husky ready to pounce on the slightest scent of fear.

"Please Robin, there is no need for violence among ourselves. There are enough people out there that would gladly, how do you say, 'kick our ass' without us doing it to each other."

"If you want to." Seth said suddenly, Robin and Starfire suddenly turned to look at him. Robin gave Seth a defiant look but faltered for whatever reason.

"Listen Obsidian, just don't give us a hard time. This requires organization and follow my lead. Is that understood?"

Seth nodded, grinning behind a veil of smoke, "Crystal clear."

The look of a man with nothing left to lose, the look of a man who was not afraid to die, gazed back into Robin's good ol' boy loving attitude. He finally shot his head back around and moved out of the nearest door, the others following and Seth doing so with eventual leisure. It slid shut behind him as he came out into the sun. It's glorious, golden rays of perk and aptitude reveal a tall, sterling tower in the shape of the letter 't', nestled along the edge of a blue body of water. The entrance was facing away from the hundred foot drop into the cold ocean, towards the city. Beautiful, Obsidian mused, returning to more prudent activities.

Seth checked his watch realizing it was somewhere around four in the afternoon. Clouds drifted lazily thousands of feet overhead, casting thin shadows over a variety of places. A few remains of newspapers and such traveled along the concrete, light trinket sounds following. Other than the minuscule serving of gray clouds, blue sky stretched endlessly with a big, yellow sun in the center of it all.

The Titans began to walk across the great grass field towards the single paved road that led up the garage, another entrance slapped on the building's right side. Seth wasn't able to help himself; studied them all as he walked behind.

Starfire and Robin were talking about something or other, some meaningless, inane subject that had absolutely no relevance at least in his eyes. He beginning to grow fond of this talk; in a different life, everything was efficient and meaningful. Being alive, existing, meant taking time to do things that held something equatable to nothingness in value. As Cyborg was walking just a little to the left of him, Seth could sense the beginning of depression setting in – a sort of merciless, omnipotent blanket of bleak hopelessness.

Seth sensed real depression, not just this 'I'm sad' crap, but a really deep, down sadness that reached into the pit of one's soul. On the other hand, Raven was the only potential ally among any of them that warranted deeper investigation or, at some point, the sharing of a friendship. She repressed her emotions only because she had too. I've been there, Seth rolled the cigarette in his mouth, finishing it and flicking the thing somewhere in the lush grass.

There had never been a significant other in Seth's life – in reality, there had never been anyone in Seth's life. Anyone who even remotely knew him was scared by his nature to a degree, some in magnitudes varied from others. He'd started becoming tired with the way people perceived. How was he ever able to forge something beyond talk with anyone if his only impression was fear? He knew little about fear himself, love and happiness being a cosmic mystery somewhere in the same ballpark. Seth realized that his thoughts were drifting and silently snapped back to attention, hands shoved into his pockets with a slight hunch complimenting the stature.

They had reached the end of the paved roadway and now were entering the city.

Great skyscrapers dominated Seth's view, reaching up into the heavens, belonging to huge corporations and businesses that seeped into the everyman's wage-labored life. Smaller buildings of various types were in-between the skyscrapers; little things that helped make up the general population of the city, likely stowing away poverty stricken families and low-end college kids on the edge of financial sanity.

Houses, stores, bars, restaurants, places that distracted people from the reality of the situation of the planet, decorated the boardwalk of Jump City. The situation was, if the dark being from Grant City had survived, that every single person on this planet was out of luck. All these scattered homes and schools, bars and libraries and whatever else would be down on their knees, praying to the chaotic lap of the presence from beyond.

Plain and simple.

Seth shoved that thought aside as quickly as he'd retrieved it. He was almost sure that he had destroyed Natas. Almost. Seth looked up as he sensed that the others had stopped, eyes confirming that they had entirely. Since his birth, Seth had been bred for battle. He lived for combat. He trusted his senses more than anything else.

They had all gathered outside of a small pizza shop with a second floor where there were tables and chairs with umbrellas over them set up, overlooking a few sidewalks and roads below. Seth wondered why they were not going in when he realized that someone was approaching the team. He seethed inwardly as he knew who it was. Any schmuck would recognize the Media when presented to them, especially the Titans. Especially Seth Obsidian.

The person did not have a cameraman following them around, but he had a pad of paper and a pencil, ready for an interview with childlike eyes and fervor. "Robin! Robin! A word?" he asked, Robin putting on a big smile, despite the fact that there was no camera.

"Sure.," Robin replied, his voice friendly and welcoming.

The man with the pad nearly jumped at Robin's acceptance, beginning without haste, "Rumor has it that Beast Boy has left the team, is it true?" the reporter asked.

"Yes, it is." Robin replied.

Somewhere, Cyborg was rolling his eyes. Somewhere, Raven was silently groaning. Somewhere, Starfire was biting her lip from the uncomfortable dialogue. It was then that the reporter asked Robin the ultimate question in regards to the interview: "Why?"

"Personal reasons," Robin paused, continuing, "I'm not a liberty to say."

"Oh, and who has replaced him?" the reported may have been getting too exited at this point.

"Seth Obsidian." Robin replied.

In unison, the Titans and the reported turned to gaze at him. Seth shrugged in response, standing a good five feet back from the teammates and media man.

"Do you have anything to say?" the reporter asked, stepping forward toward Seth.

Even as he did so, he faltered, seeing a strange, dangerous thing in Seth's eyes. "Um... okay, I'll get back to you later on that. Uh, thanks for your time everyone, I've got to go now." The reporter turned and retreated with all the dignity that he could.

"You know, you're going to have to learn how to talk to the media, we _are_ rather famous around here." Robin said.

Seth titled his head, "You know, I was going to but he kind of sped off on me." He could kick himself for ever attaching anything psychically to Natas, especially that – the look of evil.

Robin put a finger in his chest, "Shape up, Titan. This is getting out of hand."

Seth flung Robin's arm off, holding back combat rage, "I don't have to do anything if you're going to treat me like that."

"Whatever, we'll deal with this later." Robin turned and stalked into the pizza place, the others following him.

Cyborg stopped, looking back at Seth, then grinned and shook his head. "Rookies," he muttered.


	4. Warehouse Rave

**Author's Note:** Sorry for the late update. Been busy with work and other projects. So, as of this chapter, I'm going to go back and expand earlier chapters, re-edit and revise. I feel there's some stuff that could be added. Also note that in a few chapters, I'm going to switch the rating to "M" (reference to nudity upcoming). Thanks for waiting and I can promise that it won't taking this long again.

* * *

**Chapter IV: Warehouse Rave**

_"Undo these chains, my friend. I'll show you the rage I've hidden._  
_Perish the Sacrament. Swallow, but nothing's forgiven._

_You and I can't decide which of us was taken for granted._  
_Make amends… some of us are destined to be outlived."_

Night fell like a dark, comforting shade across the city, leaving little dregs of light along the myriad of streetlights throughout. Like the day, it had come slowly and without resistance. Seth could only attribute a calm day to the lack of crime. After their meal at the café, the Titans had wandered around the city for some time, perhaps keeping tabs on anything out of the ordinary. Something told Seth that it was more out of aimlessness – with such a bizarrely low crime rate, there wasn't much to fight or fend off. A life crisis came to mind.

People generally tended to avoid Seth if at all possible; they knew death on two legs when they saw it. He didn't understand why, to be honest. Deep down, dark and stoic as he was, the bastard had a sense of morality. He had feelings, even though restrained. Feelings like friendship and general compassion for fellow man. Even feelings beginning to grow for Raven, the quietest of the group.

Sometimes, the people nearby even crossed streets to avoid him. It didn't do his ego very much good, but it didn't do much harm either.

He had not been here two days and already Seth was instilling fear in those around him. It was a torn thing; love and hate. On one hand, he enjoyed the respect. On the other, he just wanted someone to reach out to him. Desires were a moot thing, though. He had to keep it level, calm. He had to keep up the demeanor, even when Raven would shoot him a glance or two. He wondered if she could sense him gazing over her figure, especially her rear end and face.

Seth Obsidian was very much human and had needs like any other.

After the endless hours of walking around places like the local mall and hanging out at a few other diners and bars, the Titans had eventually returned to the Titan Tower. The uneventful night had inspired a well of self-question for all of them. Star seemed lost in some sort of existential meltdown, Robin had grown an erection for extreme pride, Cyborg oozed of apathy and Raven... well, she kept her emotions hidden particularly well. Like Seth.

But as the twilight came and went and still nothing happened, the Titans had grown restless. Seth had holed up in his room once again, and once again Starfire came for him. He'd begun to suspect maybe she like him to some degree. She was cute, sure. She'd probably be fun in the sack or even provide as a good servant in the lust department, but he wasn't all that into her. Not like that at least. He could only appreciate her body like any other man would.

Time continued on. Seth looked up sharply from his desk as he heard soft knocks on his door.

"Enter." he said in a slightly annoyed voice. He let his red inked pin fall from his hand as the door opened up to once again reveal Starfire. "What is it this time?" Seth asked.

"Um, well, we are heading out again. Do you wish to join us? This time we are going to a place you might find more... acceptable."

"Define acceptable." Seth folded his arms.

Starfire stammered, then attempted to answer. "It's kind of like a Nine Inch Nails music video."

"Go on." Seth replied, his interest piqued.

"There is an abandoned warehouse down near the docks. It's really a good place, really. There is a party going on and we've all decided to go." Starfire explained.

"All of us?"

She nodded.

"Star, I don't know you very well, but you don't seem to be the gothy, haunted warehouse type." Seth pointed out.

She shrugged. "Yes, this is true. I may meet new friends there, Seth Obsidian, so it's enough of a motive for me to attend."

She was like that. It took only a day of being in her presence to deduce Starfire was about as friendly as you could get. He hunched forward, clasping his hands together. Seth considered this whole party thing with laser focus. He'd been working on the map for two solid hours now. He looked back down at it, expressionless. Two hours ago Seth had asked for a detailed map of the city; he decided to be best prepared... just in case. He was studying it and marking good places to hide out and nice little escape routes, things you'd gather from a Die Hard movie (not those awful new ones, the first three only).

"I'll go." Seth said finally. He gathered up his things, stretching.

"Everyone's going to be pleased!" she giggled.

He shrugged. "Tell that to Robin."

She mirrored his shrugging response. "Follow me."

Everyone was gathering around a rather souped up car, probably lost in the sheer magnitude of it all. Cyborg was beaming at it, Robin was practically drooling and well, no one else cared. Starfire seemed to understand that yes, this was a rather enhanced car but beyond that, she didn't seem to pay much attention.

"So, you finally finished it, huh? All perked up and top notch. Real horror-show. " Robin asked, looking the car over with a studious grin.

"Yeah, I did, finally. Took me a while to get the parts just in place like they should be. I don't know man, it was a real son of a bitch to get just right. But I did it, though."

"Looks nice." Seth ran a finger over the hood.

"I just wish BB was here to see it. He would have really loved it. We spent weeks talking about getting this thing perfect." Cyborg replied, a look of sadness falling over his face.

Perhaps that was why he was falling into depression: he missed Beast Boy. It was implied that they were friends, but not best friends. Seth seemed to understand a bit better than the others, though. Brotherhood is hard to come by. Trust is hard to come by. Depression was and is a real asshole. It came to you when you were weakest, most vulnerable. It ranged from sadness and loss of joy to downright apathy and physical pain. Seth looked up at Cyborg, "I think he would have been pleased. You did a good job."

"So do I." said Robin, though he didn't sound like he meant it very much. "Let me drive." he said after a moment of silence.

"I guess so." Cyborg replied. They all piled into the car, Robin in the driver's seat, Cyborg in the passengers seat and the other three in the back.

Raven and Seth sat on either side Starfire, making for a cramped interior. Obsidian on one hand liked this a lot. On the other, it was still a tight fit. He looked over at Raven. She simply stared at him. "Why do you look at me so much?" She asked.

Seth shrugged, "I'd ask you the same."

Raven calmly turned her attention away, returning it to whatever Robin and Cyborg were doing. He opened up the garage door with the push of a button, looking around at the other Titan with some weird grin of smug satisfaction. There was an ego brewing in his coming words which only failed to impress Seth. Rather, he was amused at his palpable attempts to gain control and prove himself.

"Get ready." he said with a grin on his face, then peeled out of the garage.

Starfire gripped a handle on the car's interior side, bracing against Seth and the backseat as buildings, signs, pedestrians and pure concrete passed by in a daze of approaching city light. The door shut behind him as Robin flew down the paved roadway with no observable direction.

He was easily going fifty and gaining speed, plowing down the road he swerved onto the main road into the city.

"Why don't you let up a little?" Cyborg asked.

"You afraid we're gonna crash? No way, we're heroes, that kind of thing happens to other people." Robin replied.

"So says you." Raven muttered.

"I didn't ask the goth chick for an opinion." Robin snapped back, shifting into wide turns and spins that tempted physics with a nice, fatal bloodbath.

The leader didn't mind; Robin continued to plow on, and it was only a God given miracle that they made it down to the docks and the warehouse party without a scratch. He pulled the car to a halt among the dozens of other cars, nestling beside the slew of teenage angst. The dull, rhythmic thudding of music could be heard as much as felt as the Titans got out of Cyborg's shiny new auto. Seth looked round, studying the environment.

He saw dozens of teens heading into the warehouse, some with myriads of piercings and tattoos, others with the dyed hair and glow sticks to light up a city skyline. He watched as a black, hatchback mustang pulled up and as the doors opened. A cloud of thick smoke that came from a drug commonly called weed drifted out of the opening doors, staining the air with a calming though potent smell. Four teens came out; one was skinny with short black hair and a smile so wide it pierced his cheeks. Another had blond hair and blue eyes, skinny as well and possibly more euphoric than the teenager before him. Another wore trench coat much like Seth's, though not as cheerful as the others – there was a definite smirk, just subdued. He had a shaved head and a dark look combined with the joy, a strange combination. The final one also wore a trench coat, hiding most of his features in darkness.

"Ah, man! We chonged it UP!" said the skinny teen with dark hair.

"I don't even... what is on going." The blond one tried to muster.

Raven stood by Seth, simply staring. "What is it that they're doing?" she asked.

Seth felt a small grin manage through his hardened face. "It's been called therapy in some places. Other test subjects referred to it as running through the forest. I call it tending to the herb." Seth shoved his hands into his pockets, standing.

"Pot," Raven stated, one of the teens damn near hacking up a lung. She shook her head gently, "Amateurs." With that, she was gone into the warehouse.

All the others laughed and the quartet began to head into the warehouse. Seth watched them go, barely changing his expression. On some level, he longed to be like them. It'd seemed like a way of being truly free, something Seth could never be. He turned his attention to the warehouse, making his way inside.

What was it to be normal? To have a normal life, to be a normal teenager with friends, not allies. To live life for a purpose different than his. He sighed heavily, passing the interior doors of the warehouse, neon lights and bizarre, exotic colors beaming around the walls and through the collective of teenagers and young adults. Here, there was only life. Life in the sense that you were moving, you were kinetic.

As soon as the Titans entered, everything went to hell in a hurry. Someone yelled 'bust!' and everyone began to snatch and run, grabbing up drugs and beer and other things that were illegal. Seth wondered if any of them thought they could get away reasonably. Instead, he simply stood and watched the pandemonium.

"What this," Cyborg nudged him and for the first time, Obsidian felt a connection or at least a hint of one.

Raven suddenly spread her dark energies after muttering a strange chant and held every single person where they stood, grasping them in some mysterious aura of dimensional power. Robin gave her thanks, applauding her with a wide grin on his face. He bowed for her, then paced to the for of the frozen party-goers. His thanks was more than enough; the bastard had a sense of theatrics after all.

"Thank you, dear Raven," he stopped clapping then began addressing the entire mass of frozen teens, "everyone chill out, we're not here for a bust, we're here to party."

Raven then released everyone and they all paused, looking up at Robin, deer-in-headlights painted over their faces. There seemed to be a tenseness, and then somebody yelled.

"It's all good!"

Everything went back to normal, movement, lust and ecstasy returning to their former glory, if not more energized. The music resumed, people kept on doing what they were doing and the general air calmed down. Cyborg and Starfire disappeared into the crowd, probably hunting down a piece of ass for later in the night. Seth had no idea what Cyborg would be into but Starfire made it very clear she liked Earth women.

"You're not here for a bust, prove it," one of them said, and produced a blunt, "smoke it."

Robin looked down at it, then held out his hand. The teen handed it over, Robin put it up into his mouth, perching the son of a bitch like a madman on the cusp of a tobacco pipe, then took the lighter that the teen extracted from his pocket and lit it up. The glorious, egocentric, cocky leader actually took a deep, formidable drag. A weak chuckle escape Seth as he watched.

Robin held it for a little while, then coughed it out.

"Alright," the teen said reluctantly, "I guess you're good."

He shrugged. "Crime fighters need a break every now and then."

The teen nodded. "Agreed."

He ripped the blunt out of Robin's mouth and then walked off into the crowd, satisfied the local hero had proven himself harmless for the night of fun. Seth simply stood. What the hell was he supposed to do? No one really knew much about him and honestly, he stuck out like a sore thumb in the team. It was then that he noticed Raven still standing by his side, silent. She turned and looked at him, her eyes burning into his. What was this she was doing? Seth simply gazed back for a brief moment before Starfire called her off into the crowd. Raven's mouth twitched in anger and she turned towards the alien girl, displeased.

"Wait." Seth let it escape him.

She looked back for a moment, then returned to Starfire.

He watched her go, finding a intense surge of boredom overcome him. His feet moved forward; he'd go into the crowd and just perhaps get a drink, not that it'd affect him any. No matter what kind of alcohol he drank, no matter what drug he did, it would have no affect on him. That privilege was taken from him at birth by some scientist playing god with test tubes of genetically engineered DNA and biological serum.

But he still liked to do it sometimes, perhaps to show off, perhaps to try and feel alive or even appear somewhat normal. Somewhat human. He spotted Robin, sitting at a makeshift bar with a few others, holding a glass of whiskey in his hand.

He took a sip of it and then looked around at his admirers, clapping as the Teen Titan downed another shot of some sour mash Kentucky brew.

"I hold my alcohol well." he said.

Obsidian found himself cocky and irritated with Robin's attitude. Well, time to put a stop to that. Seth stepped forward and looked the teen who was acting as bartender in the eye, stoic and focused.

"Oh what are you going to do, new fish? Try to out drink The Robin?" Robin jeered, the crowd following his lead.

"Everclear, shot glass." He said in a monotonous voice, sitting over the counter.

All eyes suddenly went to Seth. Everclear. Not beer. Not weak whiskey. Everclear. Almost pure, burning-your-throat-and-soul, pristine alcohol. The 'bartender' stared at Seth for a moment, before finally nodding and getting it out. "You sure man? We're here to have fun, not have the cops sent over for some idiot getting alcohol poisoning." The bartender advised, pouring the drink into the small of the glass.

Seth picked up the shot glass, held it to the light and tipped it in Robin's direction. In one fluid movement, it was downed.

"Another." he said.

The teen refilled the glass then Seth downed it. He repeated this process six times, each with a bigger sense of smugness and triumph. He'd let Robin screw with him sense day one but right now, in the height of his emotions, he wanted to prove himself. More specifically knock Robin down a couple pegs.

Maybe he was trying to impress Raven.

"You the god damned Devil," one of the teens said.

Seth turned to look at him, grinning. "Far from it." he said.

Robin, disheartened and out drank, left the bar, deflated. Seth turned to look out over the raving teens. In the crowd he could see Raven watching Starfire attempt to woo some random earth girl, Cyborg with a woman and... a man at his side, all three dancing and Robin finding comfort in several of the other rave attendants, all female.

Something familiar was playing, a song that he had acquired a taste for sometime back. It was called Alone I Break by a band called Korn. He had grown to love many of their songs, specifically from the Untouchables and Issues albums. Seth finally stood up and moved to a darkened corner of the warehouse to stand alone. He watched, and the party continued on. Somewhere, behind some set of people, through some thick cigarette smoke, on some stool sat Raven, returning the same gaze of interest Seth had expressed for her earlier.

With that, the party continued on.


	5. The Lab

**Author's Note:** Luckily this one was uploaded in a much smaller time frame. Let's see if I can get the following chapters added pretty soon. I'm still working on some additional scenes for the earlier chapters, so those will hopefully be uploaded soon. Remember to check the changelog as it will tell you the prime differences between the original chapter and what I've added. A Search function is included as well. Enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter V: The Lab**

_"Awoke when the light,_  
_Hit me right in the temple,_  
_Felt something cold,_  
_Touch my toes as it passed,_

_Might not be the face you'd expect,_  
_But he's clearly insane,_  
_Got me pegged in the back._

_Just need a bit of luck, get 'em up,_  
_Point the gun at the eyes,_  
_Or at the knees, had to shoot, had to fight,_  
_Gonna take out the gunman._

_Bit of luck, get 'em up,_  
_Made to run for our lives,_  
_Take out the knees, had to choose, had to fight,_  
_Gonna take out the gunman."_

Raven sat next to Starfire, who was trying to court some sixteen year old girl into making out with her. Light refracted off various corners and glass nuances in the warehouse, washing the horny titan with neon greens and vibrant reds. Starfire had secretly hoped the liquor and lighting, combined with dark music and weed, would be enough to persuade someone to occupy her bed tonight. As charming as the Titan was, her skills weren't enough to move the teen.

"I'm really not in to girls, but you are cute. Can we just be friends?" the teen asked.

"You don't like me?" Starfire asked.

She shook her head, "Not like that. Maybe we can trade numbers later, but I'd rather just be friends."

Starfire fell to deflation. "Surely. I am deeply regretting my actions. We'll be friends, Maggie."

Maggie, the rave-tinged teen grinned, nodded and left the booth, only Star and Raven remaining. There was a moment of silence, the alien girl trying to hide her bruised ego. She folded her hands together, leaned forward and back, then unfolded them and picked up her nearby shot glass. "Maybe next time," she cheerfully expressed to, well, really no one and then slammed down the whiskey.

"She was so pretty, too," Raven picked up her glass of beer and sipped on it. The half-demon woman knew a good female body when she saw it; wide hips, a tight rear end and inviting cleavage. But she also knew a heterosexual on sight, perhaps a strange facet of her powers. Her father never told her that with great power comes great orientation detection.

"How would you know, Raven? I thought you like the boys from your own dimension." Starfire sat back, arm slung over the booth's upper railing.

Raven shrugged, a good answer evading her. "They can get... intolerable."

"You have eyes for Seth." Starfire giggled, nudging her playfully.

Raven glared at her, then finished her beer. "I'm keeping an eye on him to see what he does, if you're curious."

"Sure thing!" Starfire was looking around again, probably for someone else.

"Really. You know how I feel about that 'love' concept amongst people." Raven gazed into the moving bodies of the night, fighting the truth that maybe she was developing a lustful interesting in the newcomer.

Star chuckled. "Well that's too bad lady Raven. I suppose I can't interest you in me?"

This was not the first time Starfire had propositioned Raven. "We're merely allies. Maybe friends, if you want to put it that way." Several months ago Starfire had crawled into bed with Raven and, well, it solidified her belief that the two would merely remain close friends.

Star sighed, then smirked. "I suppose. Except that one night."

"Hush." Raven stood and dispersed into the warehouse. She knew better than to stick around an intoxicated person with carnal desires; most importantly, she didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings, including her own. The idea of doing dirty things, flesh against flesh, was reserved, not particularly for someone else but more so to avoid any dangerous after effects. She could only imagine how it would feel and the things her powers would do to the physical world in that state of mind. Seeing Seth across the way, she did just that: imagined.

* * *

The party pounded on long into the night, switching through different songs and artists. They were mostly by Korn though there were a few exceptions. Slipknot, Nine Inch Nails, Chevelle and even some Aphex Twin would sprinkle themselves throughout in some sort of weird, sonic encapsulation. Half the teens didn't recognize the artists and the portion of the other half seemed indifferent. There were a few, however, who reconciled with shrouded memories of Trent Reznor and Richard D. James. As time passed, the party died down.

Seth found it hard to believe some of the sights presented throughout the weave of the night. Nudity, drugs and blatant vandalism. Violence was slim if there at all, which was something the team had been grateful for, including Obsidian.

Slowly, the teens trickled out of the warehouse in ones and twos. Three in the morning came with deliberate accuracy.

Either too tired, too drunk, too high or too partied out, they stumbled their ways to their cars to probably crash and die or something of a similar nature. Seth and the other Titans eventually made their way back home, the calm of euphoria trailing in their wake. Obsidian drove with cold precision, unaffected by the night's fervor. The zeal of such gatherings, while laden with sex and happiness, held no barring for him right now. His only focus was getting home and thinking about what the hell he'd do next. The taste of the city's heart had made him worried; Natas would surely wipe away any form of good or happiness.

Good was a term that fell somewhere between relativity and subjectivity. Smoking a large portion of marijuana and having lots of sex was fun and, if done correctly, didn't hurt anyone but still fell under 'bad' for most people. This wasn't evil to Seth. Seth had seen evil and fun wasn't that. Evil was chaos and destruction. People gathering around to enjoy each other's company was the opposite of whatever Natas would bring (or take away, rather).

Yet Seth drove. This was only because Robin was passed out in a drunken near-coma, Starfire did not know how, Raven had no wish to and Cyborg had accidentally sent himself into a far deeper depression during a smoking session with several old friends. "It's like everything is pointless," Cyborg covered his face, shaking his head gently.

"If it's pointless, why not give it a point?" Seth asked, turning a corner.

"What do you mean?"

Seth had come to a halt, a collection of the city's stop lights glowing crimson red over the car nose-deep in an intersection, the new ally turning to face Cyborg's welling depression. Seth made sure to focus his gaze so deep into Cyborg's mind, it'd take an apocalyptic situation to distract him. Cyborg went quiet, full attention diverted to Seth. "This is your life and it's ending one minute at a time." Seth plainly stated.

Cyborg raised his brow, "What?"

The lights switched over to green, Seth finishing his slew of advice before beginning to drive again. "It is only after you've lost everything that you are free to do anything," Seth turned another corner, checking his watch, then concluded. "Only after disaster can we be resurrected."

Cyborg sunk silently back into his seat.

With that, Seth Obsidian continued home.

* * *

It was around five in the morning before the Titans finally arrived home. Along the way, orbs of dying sodium incandescences mixed with the group's swimming intoxication and highs, providing an ambient filter for the rest of the night. The car arrived, Seth stepping out of it to assess the observable situation. Robin was dragged, feet first, by Cyborg into the tower and to his bed. The hero had succumb to somewhat too much alcohol. Even though Seth and he had a sort of contest earlier, Obsidian did feel slight remorse. Somewhere deep down, Robin was trying to prove he was a good person, though didn't know how to express it accurately.

"He's out." Cyborg had said.

Raven was the only one to respond. "No one saw that coming."

Robin, fighting for notice but stuck in the undercurrent of an alcoholic tide. In other words, he came off as a first grade jerk.

Raven went to her room almost immediately, only shooting a glance or two at Seth as she left. Starfire was acting calm and strange, probably laughing too much for her own good. This was likely an aftereffect of the party's potent weed and other drugs, though memory served that Star had only drank most of the night.

Cyborg went to his room then promptly fell asleep. Still depressed, but at least reexamining his meaning, Seth thought. Maybe he'd perk up in coming times.

Seth watched them all go and stood outside as if a statue. His frighteningly efficient internal system allowed him to operate with only one hour of sleep a night, so sometimes he chose not to go to sleep at all. The only drawback came in tomes of nightmares and mazes of dark, disturbing dreams. Oh well, he grimaced, lighting a cigarette. Thoughts of Raven nude, undressing, came to his mind. He brushed them off, unwilling to pay attention to his more primitive side at the moment. "Calm yourself," he whispered beneath his breath, taking another deep drag.

He had gone to the top of Titan Tower later, sat on the very edge of the hundred foot drop over the other hundred foot plunge into the ocean and watched the sun rise. Birds and other creatures flew through the glowing clouds, finally spreading so far apart it was impossible to tell what they were. Beams of warm, golden rays enveloped him. It was around eight in the morning when he finally came back down to the mess-hall to get a bit of food, realizing he needed some fuel, particularly protein and caffeine, to carry the day on. The only one awake and coherent, of course, was Raven.

She sat quietly at the kitchen table, nursing a mug of steaming contents.

"Coffee?" Seth asked.

Their eyes met and silence reigned; something crackled on the air, something strange and unfamiliar to both of them.

"Yeah." she responded, drinking.

A small screen mounted on the wall of the mess-hall chimed silently, begging for attention. Raven gave Seth a final look, then lithely rose to her feet and stalked over to the Audio/Video unit. Someone's face appeared on the screen, probably the police forces' contact to the Teen Titans. He appeared displeased and almost frantic. There were strained tones as the man explained a situation to Raven. In the end, she simply nodded, informed him that the Titans would be there quickly and shut down the unit.

She turned back to Seth, who was simply sipping down his coffee and chomping on a chicken breast from a few nights ago. "I need your help." Raven said.

"What?" Seth replied.

She stammered for some reason. "It's important."

Seth nodded. "Okay, what is it?"

"Go and wake Cyborg, inform him that we are needed for a mission." Raven explained.

Seth nodded once, needing no further explanation. They both made their way to the elevator, wanting to speak to each other but failing. The ride up towards the living quarters was silent and before either of them could say anything anyway, the lift arrived with chromium, steel built doors sliding wide open. The two dark beings left each other and strode off down the hallway towards their respective tasks. Seth found Cyborg's room easily enough, and once he did he knocked on it rather loudly.

"What?" finally came the reply.

"We have acquired a mission, be ready quickly." Seth replied, then turned and left.

"Let me tell you just how excited I am..." Cyborg's voice trailed off as Seth walked away.

He headed towards his own room to gather up his things. Now it was time for possibly a little bit of action, time for battle. Seth lived for battle, quite literally. It's how he was bred, designed and engineered. He had been born and raised for war, created for combat; it was his life. He saw things like friendship and comforts and commodities as trivial things (well, he had – his views were changing). There was only battle for him. Seth arrived at his room and entered it, then swiftly went about pooling his stuff together.

He pulled on his trench coat, slid his weapons into their respective places and then headed back out of his room. The pistols were fully loaded with hollow-tip rounds, the casing with a bit of extra powder for more of a "pow". He'd seen the test dummies react to these rounds, even remembering fitting his fist into the holes the powerful ammunition had left. When he arrived at the elevator, he found that Cyborg was already there. He looked rigid and almost stood at attention.

"What happened? You didn't sound thrilled earlier." Seth checked the edge of his knife; sharp as hell and persistent.

"Purge." Cyborg plainly stated.

There were suddenly noise from somewhere in the hallway and the others came down, Robin stumbling down the hallway. He groaned and clutched at his head in the great pain known as a hangover. Seth felt a tiny smirk tease the corner of his mouth.

"Thought you held your alcohol well." Seth said.

"Go to Hell." Robin replied, stumbling to a halt before the lift.

"Been there, done that." Seth replied calmly. They all finally came into the elevator as the doors slid open again.

The place seemed somewhat packed. For the most part, no one said anything. Passing lights in the shaft quickly faded as they approached their destination. Robin finally took note of Cyborg's rigidness and sharpness, curious.

"Why are you so uppity this morning? You had at least as much as I did." he asked.

"I flushed everything from my system using a special drug called Purge. You want some?" Cyborg replied.

"Might as well, we've got a mission coming up." Robin replied, holding out his hand like a child wanting candy. Cyborg handed him a small pill as they stepped out of the elevator.

"I must warn you," Cyborg said as Robin put it into his mouth, "you might want to be near a toilet or sink." That's about when Robin swallowed it.

He suddenly pulled a face and vomited all over the carpet floor, retching up the last few gobs of stomach acid and leftover sour-mash whiskey.

"God damn it!" he yelled in anger, wiping his mouth.

"Tried to warn you." Cyborg replied, grinning in a smug fashion.

Starfire patted him on the back, "It's okay Robin, I did the same thing the first time."

He only glared at her, then stood. "Whatever, let's just get out of here." They all headed towards the exit.

"Question is, how do we get there?" Cyborg asked.

Raven and Starfire looked at each other, one of them saying, "let us worry about that."

As they stepped out into the brilliant sunlight, Starfire picked up Robin via an alien glow, Seth and Cyborg being picked up by Raven's strange, dark energies. With that, the team headed into the city. Battle was coming.

* * *

They found the place that was being broken into easily enough One wall was blown open, smoke rising high and billowing up into the air. The building was a research laboratory, according to Raven. There were a dozen cop cars on the streets and more on the way.

"How many cops do you think they sent?" Robin asked.

Cyborg shrugged. "All of them, I think."

SWAT teams and local law enforcement officers were surrounding the building as to make sure that nobody got out and two helicopter units littered about in the air, keeping an eye on the whole scene from a bird's eye view. It must have been important, Seth thought. Whatever was in there held high value. Considering the city hadn't seen much crime in a while, it may be nerves; Seth wouldn't really know.

As the Titans landed, a police officer approached, gun in hand and sweat over his stricken face. Robin was approached first, the others an afterthought.

"What's going on?" Robin asked.

"From what we can tell, its an army of Slade's robots. They've broken in and we have no idea what they're doing in there." the man replied.

"Slade?" Starfire piped.

"I thought we got rid of him." Cyborg scratched his head.

"Alright, we'll take care of it." Robin turned towards the others, pausing for a moment. Suddenly Seth was off running.

"Get back!" the officer shouted, falling back to his car.

Obsidian was already reaching into his trench coat, extracting the two modified Berettas as he entered through the hole in the wall. Debris and heat trailed passed his face, his nerves burning with pain. No, he thought, pain is an illusion. A few turns and sprints and he was deep inside, ready to blow away whatever stood in his path.

He came into a rather large room that was obviously one of the labs within the building. Tables were overturned, glass was everywhere and the place was just generally a mess. Chemicals, things not really supposed to interact with each other, did so. Rank smells of reaction fumed, singing his nostrils. A trio of robots that all looked exactly the same from which this 'Slade' must have looked like, approached Seth with an almost calm speed. Their red, glowing eyes beckoned for destruction.

He raised one of his pistols and fired off three shots, all of them directly between the androids' eyes. The robots' heads blew apart, shattering in a glorious plume of sparks and metal. They were torn away by the immensely powerful bullets and the three headless bodies fell to the ground, twitching and giving out to the loss of CPU.

"Pathetic," Seth thought as he continued on into the lab.

Hell came in a handcart. The forces were definitely ready for him, strangely enough. That or the whole team. Somewhere in the back, he could hear Robin yelling for him to wait until everyone assembled, but time was short. Too short, Obsidian groaned as he aimed his pistol.

Dozens of robots began to pour in through a few doorways along the back wall, their only motivation to murder. Seth grinned, feeling the adrenaline of combat boiling in his blood. Now this was more like it. He raised his two specialized pistols and opened fire. The twenty one bullets were each heart and head shots, each instant kills. It wouldn't matter anyway; the rounds were so destructive, hitting someone near the head was enough to vaporize a skull.

Once the Berettas were out of ammo, Seth did not feel the need to reload them. Now would be the moments for some hack n' slash, he thought. He simply shoved them back into his pockets and extracted the knife. Time for a little dirty work. The first of the surviving robots came to him, meeting with grim determination and his blade. This is what he was meant for and all he would ever aspire to be, at least in these moments. Ruthless, calculating, methodical and lightning fast.

The first one that came to Seth was cut down in an instant; he brought his combat knife down with savage fury and slammed it into the top of the thing's head, a slew of metal and cybernetic goo spilling onto the floor. It cut through the metal with ease and hit the central computer system that ran the robot, stopping it in an instant. Like a hot knife through butter, Seth smirked, devious and ready for the next one.

Seth yanked the knife out and spun around in a circle, a sort of dark battle dance similar to the highest forms of marital arts. The razor sharp blade sliced off arms and fingers, bits and pieces of the robots in a whirlwind of carnage. One came at him, missing an arm, and he kicked its chest in. _Pop. _While the robot was on the ground Seth brought his foot down with a sort of calm rage, completely smashing it's head. The electrical surge that transpired barely effect him; pain was an illusion, he reminded himself.

He replaced the knife in its sheath, intent on getting his hands dirtier. Seth grabbed two of the robots' heads and banged them together, crushing each of them. A small fireball burnt the inside of his hands, leaving a sore and reddened palm. In the short burst of pain, a hand came at his face, seeking to do him harm, but he merely grabbed it and ripped it out of the socket. _Crunch._

He then began to beat the robot with his own arm until the limb was too smashed to be used anymore. Sweat and blood mixed from his face, dripping on the floor in little, ominous puddles. Once again, Seth grabbed another robots head and ripped it off, then smashed it into another one, this time kneading the remains in his hand for a brief second.

And then, as quickly as that, it was over. He stood in amid a sea of dead robots, detached limbs and severed heads. Ordered chaos; destruction breeds construction, creation, he mused. Broken bodies lay all around him and still he stood untouched. The ultimate fighter, the unstoppable warrior, the psychotic killer.

Seth killed and killed and loved every minute of it. The Titans, unnoticed until now (save for the distant, echoing calls of their team leader), stood well back, in the hole. They had been there the whole time, for fear of getting in Seth's way and being injured.

Silence reigned for a while, until Cyborg came up with something short to say. "Damn."


End file.
